The North Carolina Tar Heels are making a strong push for an explosive playmaker in the transfer portal.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have watched as a plethora of wide receivers have decided to depart Chapel Hill for the transfer portal this winter, so Bill Belichick needs to find answers.
Outside of Jordan Shipp, North Carolina does not have any certainty at the wide receiver position, which does not exactly make the Tar Heels an appealing destination for quarterbacks.
Well, UNC has zeroed in on an explosive target in the portal, making an offer to Richmond receiver Isaiah Dawson. Dawson announced the news on social media.
The 5-foot-8 burner caught 42 passes for 575 yards and four touchdowns this season, including two grabs for 37 yards against North Carolina back in September.
Additionally, Dawson carried the ball 11 times for 136 yards and a score in 2025, and he also punched in a kick-return touchdown.
Dawson arrived at Richmond in 2024 but didn't begin receiving playing time until his sophomore campaign, where he put himself on the map as a dangerous weapon.
Isaiah Richmond during a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images.In fact, he ranked third in the Patriot League in all-purpose yards per game this past year.
The Garner, N.C. native would definitely represent an ideal playmaker alongside of Shipp, who established himself as one of the better wide outs in the ACC this season.
Of course, there is no guarantee that Dawson will ultimately join the Tar Heels, but he certainly seems excited to have received an offer from the in-state squad.
North Carolina went just 4-8 in Belichick's debut campaign, and while the Tar Heels had problems all around, their most glaring concerns were offensively.
To remedy the issue, UNC hired Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator, and it seems pretty clear that Belichick knows he will have to be aggressive in the portal this offseason.
Plus, North Carolina has a top-20 recruiting class coming in for 2026, so it stands to reason that the Tar Heels will not be wallowing in offensive futility for long.
Dawson will certainly not be the only weapon UNC tries to land in the transfer portal, but it might prove difficult for North Carolina to bag the very best players available just yet, especially with so many SEC and Big Ten teams competing for the top talent.